A Rare Benedictine

I am a fan of the Cadfael TV series. I noticed that 7 or 8 of the Cadfael chronicle books were not included in the TV series and decided to read those. In the process of locating them, I found out about the book I review here, A Rare Benedictine by Ellis Peters. It tells three short tales from what I think is the time before the first of the Cadfael chronicles books.

The first tells how Cadfael came to be a monk - and there is a mystery solved in the process (or at least one of two). The others take place with Cadfael as a monk in Shrewsbury and are both great stories as well. The second deals with the seemingly miraculous disappearance of some donated silver candlesticks and how justice prevails in this case. The third story involves stolen rent money, and the clever way that it is found. All fit in well with what one would expect from Cadfael.

These are three great stories, and I highly recommend them to Cadfael fans and as an introduction to the series for those who have never heard of it.

Beyond Belief

Beyond Belief by Elaine Pagels is subtitled, The Secret Gospel of Thomas. There is a translation of this gospel given at the end of the book, but there is little in the way of explaining it anywhere. The book focuses much more on the gospel of John and how Irenaeus helped to shape what was to become orthodox Christianity.

That being said, and it is a little troubling (was her editor asleep?), I am still recommending the book, because it is a good read. Along its way, it explains the other way(s) Christianity could have gone (and might still go perhaps now that Gnostic writings are becoming widely available) quite well I think. I am not sure that I would have included all the personal details that Pagels stuck in here and there, but then it is her book, and they did sort of fit in.

Maybe she will write a second edition and actually write more about Thomas. She does write very well - something I seem to see less and less of these days. Hope she does, as Thomas is an interesting subject, and she would probably do a good job with it - assuming her editor keeps her on track.

Slan

Written many years ago, Slan by A E van Vogt, is considered by many to be a classic Sci Fi novel. Personally, I had never heard of it until very recently when I saw it mentioned in a recent book based on other books by van Vogt - his Null-A series.

Slans are mutant "super-humans". There are apparently at least two types of them as is explained in the book. Many years before the time the story is set, Slans and regular humans have fought it out with the Slans driven into hiding. The book focuses on the adventures of a young Slan, Jommy Cross. Jommy is trying to bring an end to the persecution of the Slans without destroying regular humanity.

The first three-quarters of the book is very well done with lots going on and is much better than the last part in my view. I was really hooked into the book from the start, so was a little disappointed in the "bumpy" way the last part progressed. The ending was rather abrupt for me as well - there is a sequel (Slan Hunter) that was written many years later which I will now have to read to see what happens. The author seemed in too great a rush to finish writing Slan, only to take a long time to come back to it years later and with the help of another author.

Some people have commented that the "special effects" (technologies) in Slan are outdated. I would have to agree with this in many respects. For example, video is presented as if it is a real big deal - which I guess it was in the early 1940's when this book came out. It seems all very quaint in many parts, but still fun if you keep in mind when it was written. Those who like nostalgia will appreciate this. Sort of like how much fun it can be to watch old episodes of Flash Gordon, I guess.

Despite the defects mentioned, the book is worth reading.

Pyongyang

This is a book in graphic format by Guy Delisle. Its subtitle is A Journey in North Korea.

I normally do not like graphic format, but I made an exception here because of the subject - North Korea - and the bizarre cover illustration. You have to see this cover to believe it! It does come up in the story as well.

The book is well worth a read, but I found it a little inconsistent in parts, and it ended rather abruptly. It also did not dig all that deep in places - although considering the subject and the graphic format, that might have been very hard to do.

The book depicts the adventures of an animator who is in North Korea supervising a project for a French television company - apparently artists are cheaper there than in Europe these days, and the Dear Leader needs some hard currency for cognac or some other "essential". The author's handlers try to keep him under control while he does his work and sees what they want him to see.

North Korea must be a truly bizarre place. I guess like the author, you have to have a sense of humor to get by there, but as he recognizes, it is a pathetic place in many respects. I wonder what will happen there when the people finally figure out what has been done to them by the two Leaders.

If you liked this book and like mysteries, you might want to check out the Inspector O series that has recently come out. It features a North Korean police detective who knows what the regime really is and is just trying to get by and still do his job as honorably as he can under the circumstances. I have reviewed two of these books in this blog previously, A Corpse in the Koryo and Hidden Moon.